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Myth, Monomyth and Middle-earth

© Douglas Charles Rapier

It is generally well known that Professor Tolkien, in setting out to write the sagas of Middle-earth, had determined that he would write a mythology for the English people, one which would be separate and distinct from the traditions of the Greco-Roman, those of the Levantine and those of northern Europe. Quite a tall order. Myth cannot be fabricated from whole cloth. Mythic images are derived from deeply resonant sources, drawn as water from the well of mankind's shared experiences.

Joseph Campbell, renown comparative mythologist, in the preface to his classic study of the heroic journey, 'The Hero With A Thousand Faces', contends that study of the ancient meaning of mythic symbols reveals cross-cultural parallels and that "..these will develop a vast and amazingly constant statement of the basic truths by which man has lived throughout the millenniums of his residence on the planet." Moreover, in the preface to this volume, Campbell states "...myth is the secret opening through which the inexhaustible energies of the cosmos pour into human cultural manifestations."

The question must be raised, therefore, which speaks to whether Tolkien successfully accomplished the self-appointed task of creating a viable mythology. Broaching this subject in the context of this forum is to risk raising the hackles of many fans and 'true believers' in Tolkien's pseudo-history. However, as many are aware, this topic has been under-going thoughtful and scholarly examination for decades. It must also be understood that this vivisection of Tolkien's opus has largely been done by fans True-Blue and long-standing. Fans who's enthusiasm for the tales of Tolkien have compelled them to pierce to the core of his literary corpus, seeking what it seems to promise: 'the basic truths by which man has lived throughout the millenniums...'

Do Tolkien's writings keep that promise? Did Professor Tolkien intend to make a promise of such weighty consequence? Or did he simply set out to write a ripping good yarn and was swept away by the force of the narrative much as we fans, devotees, aficionados and plain LOTR nut-cases have been swept away? If Tolkien's chronicles of Middle-earth are nothing more than simply well-spun verisimilitudinous diversions, an explanation should be put forward to account for the fervor by which scholars have plumbed and surveyed the apparent truth therein.

For decades, authors and academics who have been swept away by Tolkien's tales have had books and papers published which discuss the merits of Tolkien's writings as literature, as mythology, and as a fountainhead of philosophy, psychology and spirituality. A small select sampling include:

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